Prayer For America

Daniel’s Prayer Paraphrased (from Daniel 9:3-19, NLT)
By Ruthanne Garlock

“O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands. But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our leaders and ancestors and to all the people of the land.

“Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including those who bear your name, and those judges and leaders whom you placed in authority over us—we are guilty of disloyalty to you. O Lord, we are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets. Your people and our leaders have disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice.

“So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin. You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in our major cities. Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth. Therefore, the Lord has brought upon us the disaster he prepared. The Lord our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey him.

“O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from slavery in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness. In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from America. The neighboring nations mock us and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.

“O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as we plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.

“O my God, lean down and listen to us. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how this nation—the nation that was built on your Word—faces spiritual ruin. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.

“O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and our nation bear your name.”Habakkuk’s pledge and prayer:

“I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. …O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 2:1; 3:2 NKJV). [box] Ruthanne Garlock travels internationally teaching on the subject of prayer. She has taught at a Bible School in Brussels, Belgium, and serves on the board of Christian Haitian Outreach, an orphanage ministry in Haiti. Ruthanne and Quinn Sherer have co-authored 19 books including The Spiritual Warrior’s Prayer Guide: Find Breakthrough in Any Situation.  [/box]